I'd changed my plans slightly after hearing out the nobleman named Grey, his suggestion of keeping Lord Tresh's son while he went to take my message to the castle was a good plan, no matter how self serving it was for him. 'To think that a blood relative would sell one of their own for a few more days of living...' The thought was almost as amusing as what transpired later in the day as Grey left on a horse. Many of the villagers had their own revenge planned for the Tresh boy, and I soon saw them tie him to a post in the center of the village. They threw stones at him for some time before a few of the bolder villagers struck him with their fists, screaming obscenities as they took their held back frustrations out on him. My only request was that they leave him alive, and whether out of fear or respect for me they obeyed without complaint.

As I strolled through the village street late at night a message interrupted my thoughts on how the local lord might react knowing I held one of his sons as a hostage of sorts.

[ Your Dhampyre has learned the abilities >Blood magic< and >Soul binding< they've also learned the skill >Mental message< ]

[ Stats ]

HP: 350/350

MP: 700/700

STR: Lv. 80

VIT: Lv. 68

AGI: Lv. 70

INT: Lv 50

SPD: Lv. 90

PER: Lv. 64

Experience points: 110/300

I was so enthralled with examining my progress and possible new abilities that I didn't notice the hooded old man who'd begun to walk beside me until he spoke. "I see you've decided on announcing your presence to the powers that be Exile." When he used that name I felt an almost uncontrollable desire to kill him right then and there, but he held up a withered hand in a placating gesture before he gathered himself to speak again. "I've no intentions of getting in your way, but my Lady wishes to speak with you...about your progress, and your past." The mention of my past only made me that much more suspicious of the old man who'd started to walk again as if he knew I'd agree to follow him already. "If you mean to trap me I'll kill you old man." The threat sounded almost petty to even me, and the old man only laughed dryly for a moment before he was overcome with a coughing fit. "I'm sure you'd have no trouble dealing with a frail bodied old man such as myself, but I am not your enemy Exile."

His sentence was punctuated by a small rift of dark energy appearing ahead of where we walked. I stopped after seeing the portal, it's energy was reminiscent of The Abyss, and I felt fear for the first time. The message that came after the portal appeared did little to assuage my fear as I read it though.

[ Sub-quest: >Meet The Lady of The Abyss< has begun. ]

"Your system is a rather peculiar one, a prototype of sorts that's not as reliable as the ones the other players will use." The old man spoke as if he could read the message that I saw, and when my eyes met his a toothless grin spread across his face in amusement. He reached into his robe and pulled out a silver chained necklace with a small onyx stone at its center. "That should allow you to leave The Abyss whenever you wish, I only ask that you speak with my Lady before you draw the eyes of the other realms to you before it is time." He shrugged in a nonchalant manner before he turned away from me to step into the portal.

[ New item received: >Abyss Walker's necklace< ]

I still held little trust for the old man, but he'd already gone into the portal before I could question him. I decided to wrap the dark chain around my wrist while holding the onyx pendant in my right hand. Something about wrapping the dark pendant around my neck sent a chill down my back. I tentatively took steps towards the portal, fighting my instincts to run away from it with each step until I was enveloped by the telltale darkness of The Abyss. 'I won't be held in here again.'

Though the darkness never completely left my surroundings I knew I'd left the third realm when a warning message came from my 'system' as the old man put it.

[ Warning the player has entered a realm banned to the >Chimera< race, Sentinels of the Abyss will converge on the player's location to intersect them. ]

I cursed the old man who was probably somewhere safe chuckling at himself until I heard a hollow coughing fit to my left. The old man placed a small icy cold vial in my open hand before I heard his voice in my mind. "I don't know how much time we'll have until the watchdogs show up but I'll have to explain things to you after you drink this. You won't be able to peer through the Abyss until you've 'assimilated' with the realm."

I could guess what he meant and raised the vial to my mouth, snatching my hand away from his in the process while I gave him a warning to keep out of my mind. I uncorked the vial with my teeth before drinking the contents in a single shot, I didn't want to know what the old man had given me. The system of course took that moment to send a message as my eyes could make shapes out in the abyss.

[ >Abyss Watcher< blood has been consumed allowing the player to assimilate with the realm. ]

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Buildings made of pitch black with galaxies dotting their walls stood around me while I stood in a cobblestone courtyard with more constellations as their foundations. As the assimilation rate reached completion I could see humanoid firms dressed in hoods similar to the old man next to me. The only differences between the old man and them was that their skin was a shade paler, and their hair and clothing held the galaxy patterns in them. The last was that where each of their eyes shone with starlight, the old man only had empty hollow sockets where his eyes should've been. He noticed the slight reaction I'd shown on my face and shrugged his tired shoulders and sighed wistfully as he stared at a tower in the distance. "The price of knowledge was steep for me Exile, but I wouldn't change anything. My dream, a hood I'd believed once dead has returned to me after thousands of years."

His voice cracked when he spoke and his lips quivered slightly, despite the lack of tears I could feel a sadness behind the sightless gaze the looked back at me. I didn't know what his dream was but I silently swore that I'd achieve my dream with my sight and strength intact. A fake cough drew my eyes back towards the group of cloaked folks. The cough had come from one of the bigger forms that had made their way through the group to reach the leading position.

"Why has a lost exile found their way back into the blissful realm of the Abyss?" The question came from one of the smaller figures standing beside the bigger one. They looked like a group of young nobles, almost exactly like the humans in the third realm. There were three in total, the big ugly one with a fat neck, a short one with a sour look on his face, and one with a peculiar line of starlight slanting through their eyes. For some reason or another I felt a strange memory pass through my mind, it was one from a member of Servant's cult. They'd grown up with three imaginary friends they named lovingly Mr. Boar, Shorty, and Snake eyes. I actually laughed at the memory while taking notice on how similar the three seemed to a villager's imaginary childhood friends.

I was going to handle the three in a similar way like their human counterparts in the third realm but as I took a step forward a pillar of darkness rose around me and I felt my body move through a space of sorts before the pillar fell into the floor around me. In front of me, on a balcony of sorts there was a woman leaning on the railing. She seemed bored as she looked towards the small town below, but was pulled out of her trance when the old man coughed politely while leaving me to stand alone. "My dearest Lady, I've brought the Exile to you as requested with little issue." The old man spoke respectfully as he bowed to the woman who turned to stare at me in a way that made me feel an uncomfortably familiar warmth in my chest. A memory of my time chained in The Abyss came to me when our eyes met, and it froze me in place as she took light steps towards me. 'How can you be here? I made that memory up in my madness.' I could remember a comforting hand against my cheek at times, along with a beautiful voice filled with an understandingly sad voice.

Her voice reached my ears at around the same time her hand had begun to caress my cheek that confirmed that the memory hadn't been something I'd made up. "I'm overjoyed to finally meet you personally Chained One, it's not every day that an escapee returns to his prison so willingly, and in the form of an extinct race no less." Her voice had a happy ring to it as a small table formed from the darkness around us.

"I'd ask you to sit but our time is limited, and if you're captured again the Heavenly realm will personally see that you're sealed by their head family. The Chimera race had once started out as a single experiment by an old dark god who believed themselves above perfection." She looked at the old man who bowed his head in embarrassment as she continued to speak.

"The dark god was helped by a minor god of mischief who wished to show the pantheons that even the lowest would claw their way to the top of given a chance. To make a mortal race with the ability to evolve into a god was taboo in many pantheons, but to help a dark god create one was a betrayal to the pantheons themselves. The mischief god was branded a traitor, and the Chimera race was declared a race banned from existence in all the realms. Labeled an abomination of chaos magic the lone Chimera was driven into 'The World Below' where they died being studied by their creator."

Her words pulled at vague memories held in the bloodline of my race, telling me of the truth behind them. I was the second Chimera to exist, and even now many would choose to be my enemies solely based on a decree made ages ago. The scope of power I would need to gain my revenge, and live comfortably afterwards felt more impossible to me than it ever had, like a mountaintop that got farther away the more I climbed. "The realms are turned against you, but if you were to be hidden away until the Convergence then your existence could be better explained away when the other players arrive. It would only be for a small while, and the things you wish to know could be better explained in The World Below."

She didn't elaborate on how my questions would be answered, nor did I fully understand where it was she'd wanted to secret me away to. "I have someone in the third realm I can't abandon that easily Lady, and if I were to leave to a plain outside of the realms there's no guarantee that I'll be able to protect them." The Lady shook her head in response to my words before gesturing to the old man who stood behind her. His head turned to look at me while his hand reaching into the folds of his dark robe. He pulled out a small crystal ball that fit comfortably in his palm, the old man mumbled a few words and an image appeared inside the crystal ball.

I saw Astrid standing with Servant, Cecil was trailing behind them as they walked down the road to Brekin. He walked with a limp, but looked towards Astrid with eyes that didn't hold any malice towards her. He almost seemed entranced. "I have many allies scattered throughout Astoria, and as we speak a servant of mine is headed to intercept them." The old man's words should've sent alarm through me, to think that some old Abyss Watcher was still influencing the third realm in some way. The girl's kind gaze was putting me at ease and I felt like I could trust her to make sure Astrid would stay safe during my absence.

The woman reached with her delicate hand to pull at a small vile of white liquid that hung to her necklace and tossed it casually to me. When I raised an eyebrow in question her only reply was that it was a "gift" for while I walked through the world below. As if summoned by the mention of its name a small swirling portal of dark energy began to form around my feet, I could feel myself sinking into the portal, I wondered what I might find when I went to this new realm. 'Whatever I face I can handle it.'

Abyss Watchers

As the last vestiges of the portal dispersed she let out a heavy sigh while staring at the spot the Exile had stood a moment ago. "Do you think he'll hate me when he returns?" The question was an odd one from any being that stood above mortal kind. "The almighty gods of the three realms aren't concerned with the feelings a mortal might have during their finite lifespan." She remembered the Watcher before sharing this with her during her initiation, and even then she'd wondered why that was. The old man laughed bitterly in response to her question before he shook his head slowly.

"If the Exile where to hate anyone my Lady it would be me, after all I was the one who gave you counsel and suggested sending him to that hellish place." The World Below was a mystery even to the gods that prided themselves in collecting all sorts of knowledge. What little was known about that realm was that it held all manner of banished dark gods in one place until the Convergence came to pass. To think that a prophecy from the mouth of a dying god would come to fruition during their time, it was almost completely improbable. "I won't be able to watch over him during his stay there, the law keeps the Warden from interfering with prisoners murdering each other."

He knew that the Lady's fondness for the Exile was great, but the old Watcher was still unprepared for just how much concern she was showing him. 'If the Heavens find out about this there'll be chaos through all three realms.' As he contemplated on just how he might sway the Lady into a more passive way of interacting with the Exile a portal of light appeared on the balcony before them. Three large forms emerged from the pillar slowly, each of them two heads taller than the Lady, they wore golden armor and their faces were covered by helmets made of the same golden material. The one who stood at the head of the group bowed politely before waving his hand towards the pillar. "Great Lady, the royal council of the Heavenly realm has summoned you for questioning."